


Meeple Massacare

by stillinbeta



Series: Diakko Week 2020 [3]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Board Games, Carcassonne, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26092123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillinbeta/pseuds/stillinbeta
Summary: It's raining, your other friends are busy, and somehow there's no homework to do. What better opportunity for board games with your crush?Entry for day three ofDianakko Week: Rainy Day!
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Series: Diakko Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1891576
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	Meeple Massacare

Akko scowled at the rain. “This sucks.” 

“Rain is an important part of the ecosystem here. It renews the plants and refills the waterways.” Diana said from behind her. 

“Did it have to happen on our day off, though?” 

“It would seem so.” 

“Can’t you just like… magic it away?” 

Diana shut her book. “You want me to cast an extremely powerful, extremely disruptive spell to alter the weather of an entire region, simply so you can go practise your flying?” 

“Well, when you put it like that…” 

“Come now. There’s plenty we can do inside together.” 

Was Diana… flirting with her? 

Nah. She would never. 

Akko pouted. “Let me guess. More revisions for the exams next week?” 

“Do you think you need to study?” 

This was a real question, Akko could tell. The kind that had a right answer. But the truth was, the two of them had been doing a lot of studying lately. Akko’s grades hadn’t been this high since her parents gave her Shiny Chariot cards for good marks. Once you got past the prissy, holier-than-thou exterior, Diana was actually a really good teacher. She was patient, careful, cute, and good at explanations. 

“I think I’m ready,” she said with confidence. 

Diana fixed her with a sharp glare, the kind she usually associated with Finnelan. But it softened, and Diana flashed a warm smile. 

“I agree. I’m proud of you Akko.” 

Akko flushed and quickly moved to change the subject. “So what should we do? How about…” 

Diana quickly cuts her off. “No more Shiny Chariot.” 

“Aww, but…” 

“You’re a savant at that game, Akko. It’s like playing chess with Holbrooke. It simply isn’t enjoyable.” 

“Fiiiiine. You pick then.” 

“Hmm. Well, I haven’t played in a while, but… well, my mum and I used to play this a bunch.” 

Diana walked over to her shelf, pushing some of her textbooks aside. She produced a blue box with a castle on it, overlooking a series of fields. 

“Carcassonne?” 

Diana nodded. “It’s pretty simple. Come over here, I’ll teach you.” 

“Oh. Okay.” 

“So basically, we each take turns drawing these tiles. They have to match up like this. City to city, road to road. And then you can place the meeples…” 

“The what?” 

“These little people. They’re called meeples.” 

Akko giggled. “Meeple meeple meeple!” 

“It’s not that weird a word.” 

Akko stuck her tongue out. “I know like five languages, and I’m pretty sure ‘meeple’ is funny in all of them.” 

And then Diana smiled. Every smile always felt like an accomplishment, it was so rare to get them. But they were so radiant. 

The two of them made eye contact, for just a second. Akko felt another blush coming on, and that was absolutely unacceptable. So instead, she picked up the starting tile and placed it down forcefully. 

“Let the battle begin.” 

The first few tiles were easy to place. The board was wide open, and Diana didn’t interfere with the cities Akko was constructing. One or two meeples went down without much comment. Diana’s moves didn’t make a ton of sense to Akko, though. Cities were points right away, so surely it made sense to go for them. 

Akko had started building up a sizable lead, in her estimation. Diana was crafty, but Akko had a lot of experience with strategy games. Well, one strategy game. 

She had this in the bag, probably. 

“You’ve picked this up quickly,” Diana remarked, placing down another meeple near one of Akko’s cities. 

“Thank you!” 

“You know, I don’t think I mind the rain.” She looked out the window, where the droplets were running down the glass. “The sound’s always been kind of relaxing.” 

“Yeah. Even if I’d really like to practise more…” 

“You’ll get it eventually, Akko. You work incredibly hard.” 

“Well… sometimes. I need the right motivation. That’s why the Shiny Chariot stickers are so effective.” 

Diana smirked. “I thought that might work.” 

“I’m not that predictable!” 

“Only sometimes.” 

Diana played another tile. She was starting to accumulate a lot of farmland. That was a little worrying. 

“Motivation, hmm…” Diana smirked. “Why don’t we make this a little more interesting.” 

Akko frowned. “Are you bored?” 

Diana waved her hands quickly. “No, no! I just… it’s just a phrase.” 

“Oh, okay. What does it mean?” 

“I was thinking of a little friendly wager.” 

“On the game?” 

“Yeah. We seem evenly matched so far.” 

“I guess… What did you want to bet? I don’t have much pocket money right now.” 

“How about… one request from the winner to the loser?” 

Akko narrowed her eyes. “What kind of request?” 

Diana shrugged. “Whatever you want. Within reason, of course. I won’t be breaking any school rules for you.” 

Well, that certainly ruled out a lot of things Akko could’ve asked for. But she was sure she could think of something. Maybe she could get more help with her flying. Or convince Diana to stay on campus for Reading Week! Everyone else was leaving, but Japan was just too far to go back to for just a few days. 

“Sounds good.” 

She could always think up something later. Akko may not be great at magic but she knew her arithmetic. It would be almost impossible for Diana to catch up at this point. 

But then, all of a sudden, she felt a chill in the room. Something had changed. And it didn’t take long to spot it: Diana’s expression had gone from friendly to downright dangerous. It looked as if she was about to start cackling evilly at any minute. 

“Diana?” Akko asked tentatively. “Are you okay?” 

“Quite alright, Akko. Now, shall we continue?” 

“Uh… sure. My turn, right?” 

“Of course.” 

Akko drew a tile, building up a city. It wasn’t very big, but there was room to expand. 

Diana smirked. That wasn’t like her. 

She picked up a tile, and somehow it was exactly what she needed to cut Akko’s progress off before it even started. 

“Your move, Akko.” 

The next tile Akko drew, she was very careful about placing. She rotated it around a couple of different positions, trying to figure out where it would work best. Finally, she settled on a field far from most of Diana’s meeples. 

Diana’s eyes flashed as she drew the next tile. She barely even glanced at it as she placed it down right next to the tile Akko had just played. Why would she do that? It was just going to make Akko’s field bigger… oh. 

It just so happened Diana had completed a long, circuitous road that stretched around half the tiles on the board. And it turned out Diana had a highwayman on the other end of said road. 

Slowly, Diana’s score began to catch up to Akko. 

Several more rounds went on like this. Akko placed her tiles as carefully as she could, but Diana could always find a way to turn them against her. She knew Diana wasn’t cheating; she would never stoop that low. She was just playing a different game than Akko was. 

Still, Akko had a commanding lead. And even as Diana was catching up, the stack of face-down cards was dwindling. All Akko had to do was hold her off for two more turns. She had a good set of cities, those would be a solid bonus towards the end of the game. 

One turn left. Finally, Akko had made a good move: Diana had played an inconsequential tile on the other side of the board. Her city spanned almost the entire map. Her victory was secured. 

And then it was Diana’s final turn. Immediately, Akko knew something was up. There was an energy radiating off Diana that was simply indescribable. She drew a tile, looking carefully over it before looking back at Akko. 

“I’m sorry about this, dear Akko.” 

Dear Akko? What? Wait, what was she sorry about? 

The tile went down, right on the edge of Akko’s city. But not just any edge. Diana had two tiny town segments there, one meeple each. Akko hadn’t understood what they were for until now — incomplete cities weren’t worth anything, and they were so small! — but now it was too late. 

Diana had completed Akko’s massive city. And now, with the walls down, Diana had two knights to Akko’s one. Her city was gone. 

There wasn’t any point in counting the score. Diana’s victory was absolute. The force of the shut out almost knocked Akko clean out of her chair. But as it was, she just sat there in shock. Where had it all gone wrong? How could she have missed that? 

Wordlessly, Diana began collecting their meeples and placing them back into their little carrying case. The tiles went back into the box, neatly stacked in perfect symmetry. The cover went back on the blue box, and the box went back on the shelf. 

“So what’ll it be?” Akko finally asked. 

“Hmm?” 

“Your request. I’m guessing you’ll ask me to leave you alone now. Maybe study on my own from now on.” 

“Akko… you think I don’t enjoy your company?” 

“You do? I always thought… I know I can be tiring, and I just figured…” 

Diana cut her off with a hand. 

“I… suppose at first, it was a frustrating experience, interacting with you. And I know I can come across as aloof. But you have… softened me, dear Atsuko. I find myself now very much looking forward to your company.” 

Was this real? Was this actually happening? She hadn’t just gone into a board-game-loss-induced fugue state? 

Diana laid a hand across Akko’s, silently assuring her that this was quite real. 

“My request is simply this: join me for dinner next week. I’ll make a reservation for us in Blytonbury, and I’ll pick you up at eight. Does Friday work for you?” 

“Friday’s good,” Akko squeaked out. 

“Excellent. Have a wonderful evening.” 

But there was one last surprise. As Diana shooed Akko out the door, right before closing it, she pulled the two close. And she gave Akko just the lightest peck on the cheek. 

Akko was still working on her levitation magic, but she was pretty sure she floated all the way back to her room. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my wife [itCaravel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsCaravel) for proofreading and moral support <3


End file.
